Halal or Haram

• 15

  Halal

• 32

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

• 19

  Haram

66 results.

• Zabiha beef, lamb, goat, camel

  Halal

  Meat & poultry

  Slaughtered by a Muslim (or a Jew/Christian) with the name of Allah, throat cut, blood drained.

  Qur'an 5:3–5

• Pork, bacon, ham, lard

  Haram

  Meat & poultry

  Swine flesh is explicitly forbidden in every form, including fat and derivatives.

  Also on labels as: lard, bacon fat, pork gelatine

  Qur'an 2:173, 5:3

• Non-zabiha / machine-slaughtered chicken

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Meat & poultry

  Depends on whether the name of Allah was pronounced and the bird was alive at slaughter. Verify the certifier.

  Qur'an 6:121

• Dead animal (carrion), roadkill

  Haram

  Meat & poultry

  An animal that died without valid slaughter is maytah.

  Qur'an 5:3

• Blood, blood sausage, black pudding

  Haram

  Meat & poultry

  Flowing blood is forbidden.

  Qur'an 6:145

• Domestic donkey and mule

  Haram

  Meat & poultry

  Prohibited on the day of Khaybar.

  Bukhari 4199, Muslim 1936

• Predators with fangs (lion, dog, cat), birds of prey

  Haram

  Meat & poultry

  Fanged beasts and taloned birds are forbidden.

  Muslim 1932–1934

• Horse meat

  Halal

  Meat & poultry

  Permitted by the majority (Hanafis consider it disliked).

  Bukhari 5520

• Rabbit

  Halal

  Meat & poultry

  The Prophet ﷺ was given rabbit meat and it was accepted.

  Bukhari 5535

• Kosher meat

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Meat & poultry

  Slaughter of the People of the Book is permitted in principle, but stunning and the missing tasmiyah make many scholars require caution.

  Qur'an 5:5

• All fish with scales

  Halal

  Seafood

  Sea game and its food are made lawful for you.

  Qur'an 5:96

• Prawn, shrimp

  Halal

  Seafood

  Halal by the majority; some Hanafis restrict sea food to fish only.

• Crab, lobster, octopus, squid

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Seafood

  Halal for Maliki/Shafi'i/Hanbali schools, not for the Hanafi school. Follow your madhhab.

• Frog

  Haram

  Seafood

  Killing frogs was forbidden, so eating them is not allowed.

  Abu Dawud 3871

• E120 Carmine / cochineal

  Haram

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Red colour made from crushed insects; impermissible for the majority.

  Also on labels as: carminic acid, natural red 4

• E441 Gelatine

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Halal only when made from fish or zabiha beef. Most commercial gelatine is porcine.

  Also on labels as: gelatin, gelatine

• E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Halal if plant-derived, haram if from pork fat or non-zabiha tallow.

• E472 a–f Esters of fatty acids

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Same source problem as E471 — confirm the fat is vegetable.

• E422 Glycerol / glycerine

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Vegetable glycerine is halal; animal glycerine may be from pork.

  Also on labels as: glycerin

• E631 Disodium inosinate

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Often produced from sardines (halal) but sometimes from pork.

• E904 Shellac

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Resin secreted by the lac insect; scholars differ, widely avoided.

• E920 L-cysteine

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Dough conditioner sometimes derived from human hair or duck feathers; synthetic is halal.

• E100 Curcumin, E160a carotene, E300 vitamin C

  Halal

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Plant or synthetic origin.

• E153 Carbon black (vegetable carbon)

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Food additives (E-numbers)

  Halal from plants, doubtful when made from bone char.

• Animal rennet in cheese

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Ingredients

  Halal when from a zabiha calf or microbial; doubtful otherwise. Look for microbial/vegetarian rennet.

• Whey / whey powder

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Ingredients

  Depends on the rennet used to make the cheese it came from.

• Vanilla extract

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Ingredients

  Standard extract is 35% ethanol. Many scholars permit the trace amount left in baked food; alcohol-free extract removes the doubt.

• Soy lecithin (E322)

  Halal

  Ingredients

  Plant-derived emulsifier.

• Tallow, animal shortening

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Ingredients

  Beef tallow is halal only from zabiha animals; often mixed with pork fat.

• Unspecified 'enzymes'

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Ingredients

  Could be microbial (halal) or animal (verify).

• Honey

  Halal

  Ingredients

  Explicitly praised as a healing for people.

  Qur'an 16:69

• Vinegar (including wine vinegar)

  Halal

  Ingredients

  Once wine fully turns to vinegar it is no longer intoxicating; the Prophet ﷺ praised vinegar.

  Muslim 2051

• Wine, beer, spirits, any intoxicant

  Haram

  Drinks

  Every intoxicant is khamr and every khamr is haram — even a small amount.

  Qur'an 5:90, Muslim 2003

• 0.0% 'non-alcoholic' beer

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Drinks

  Halal if truly free of intoxicant and not imitating drinking culture; many brands still carry up to 0.5% alcohol.

• Kombucha

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Drinks

  Fermentation can push alcohol above trace levels — check the batch.

• Energy drinks with taurine

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Drinks

  Synthetic taurine is halal; animal-sourced taurine is not. Most major brands use synthetic.

• Coffee, tea, soft drinks

  Halal

  Drinks

  No intoxicant and no forbidden ingredient.

• Marshmallows, gummy sweets

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Sweets & snacks

  Almost always contain gelatine — only halal-certified or fish/beef gelatine versions are safe.

• Chocolate with liqueur filling

  Haram

  Sweets & snacks

  Contains added alcohol as an intoxicant.

• Flavoured crisps / chips

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Sweets & snacks

  Flavourings may use pork enzymes, non-zabiha chicken fat or E631.

• Ice cream

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Sweets & snacks

  Check for gelatine, E471 and alcohol-based flavours.

• Gelatine capsules in medicine

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Medicine & cosmetics

  Ask for a halal-certified or vegetarian capsule; if no alternative exists, necessity (darura) permits it.

  Qur'an 2:173

• Porcine insulin / porcine heparin

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Medicine & cosmetics

  Forbidden in principle, permitted under medical necessity when no alternative exists.

• Vaccines

  Halal

  Medicine & cosmetics

  Major fatwa councils permit vaccination; any porcine trace is transformed and covered by necessity.

• Alcohol hand sanitiser and perfume

  Halal

  Medicine & cosmetics

  Isopropyl/ethanol used externally is not the drinking khamr and is permitted by the majority for cleaning and scent.

• Collagen supplements

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Medicine & cosmetics

  Usually bovine or porcine; marine collagen is safe.

• Lipstick and cosmetics with carmine/tallow

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Medicine & cosmetics

  Check for carmine (E120), tallow and pork-derived stearic acid.

• Interest (riba) on loans and savings

  Haram

  Money & work

  Allah has permitted trade and forbidden interest.

  Qur'an 2:275

• Conventional interest mortgage

  Haram

  Money & work

  Interest-based debt; use ijara/murabaha home finance instead.

• Murabaha / ijara / musharaka finance

  Halal

  Money & work

  Profit comes from a real asset and shared risk, not from lending money.

• Conventional insurance

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Money & work

  Contains gharar and riba for many scholars; takaful is the agreed alternative. Compulsory cover is excused.

• Gambling, lottery, betting apps

  Haram

  Money & work

  Maysir is named alongside khamr as filth of Satan's handiwork.

  Qur'an 5:90

• Cryptocurrency trading

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Money & work

  Scholars differ; leveraged and speculative trading is closer to maysir. Avoid margin and interest-bearing staking.

• Shares in a halal business

  Halal

  Money & work

  Permitted when the company's core activity and debt ratios pass shariah screening.

• Bribery, cheating in trade

  Haram

  Money & work

  Curse of Allah is upon the one who bribes and the one bribed.

  Abu Dawud 3580

• Working in a job selling alcohol or pork

  Haram

  Money & work

  Assisting in what is forbidden is itself forbidden.

  Muslim 1598

• Instrumental music

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Daily life

  Majority hold instruments impermissible; a minority permit music free of sin. Vocal nasheed and the daff are agreed upon.

• Silk and gold for men

  Haram

  Daily life

  Forbidden for the men of this ummah, permitted for the women.

  Tirmidhi 1720

• Permanent tattoos

  Haram

  Daily life

  The one who tattoos and the one tattooed are cursed.

  Bukhari 5937

• Smoking and vaping

  Haram

  Daily life

  Proven self-harm; contemporary councils rule it forbidden.

  Qur'an 2:195

• Photography of living beings

  Halal

  Daily life

  Contemporary majority permit photographs for need and identification; three-dimensional idols remain forbidden.

• Keeping a dog

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Daily life

  Permitted for guarding, farming and hunting; keeping one purely as a house pet reduces reward.

  Bukhari 5480

• Chess and video games

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Daily life

  Permitted when free of gambling, images of shirk and neglect of salah; disliked or forbidden when they cause either.

• Free mixing and khalwa

  Haram

  Daily life

  Being alone with a non-mahram is forbidden.

  Bukhari 5233

• Backbiting (gheebah)

  Haram

  Daily life

  Compared in the Qur'an to eating the flesh of your dead brother.

  Qur'an 49:12

• Organ donation

  Doubtful (mushbooh)

  Daily life

  Permitted by most contemporary councils to save a life, with conditions; a minority prohibit it.